


go to the devil

by The_Consulting_Werewolf



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Twins, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempted Sexual Assault, Character Death, M/M, Obsession-inspired, Suho and Junmyeon, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:28:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21633682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Consulting_Werewolf/pseuds/The_Consulting_Werewolf
Summary: Junmyeon returns because he has nowhere to go.
Relationships: Jung Taekwoon | Leo/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Wu Yi Fan | Kris
Comments: 14
Kudos: 71





	1. ONE

**Author's Note:**

> please enjoy this mess
> 
> also, let's hope I update this.

Junmyeon stands in front of the warehouse, shaking in the rain that just falls and falls on this winter night. November rains are never nice and this one seems to have a vendetta against Junmyeon because it is pouring hard and cold. His dark brown hair is soaked, so is his jacket, his dress pants and he can’t see properly because even his glasses are splattered with water. He shouldn’t be here but what other choice does he have?

Who else can he go to after accidentally murdering a man?

The warehouse looks empty from the outside but Junmyeon knows it isn’t. There is a whole world under it. The two-way communication system blinks green at him and he hesitates. He swore to himself he would never return, never seek help from _him_. When he left this place to seek his own life out ten years ago, he had promised to himself he will cut all his ties with this place, this darkness he was born in but could never accept. He was born in powers that he could never accept either, but here he is, after a decade, using them to save himself and now he doesn’t know what he should do. So, here he is. His very last resort.

He can imagine the smirk on _his_ face, the gloating, the way _he_ would see this as a personal victory. The prodigal son returns after all. So, after taking a deep breath, Junmyeon raises a finger and presses on the green button. A cracked voice answers, “Yes?”

Junmyeon’s voice breaks as well as he says, “This is Kim Junmyeon,” he takes another breath, hating the taste of the words he will say on his tongue already, “Kim Suho’s brother. I need to see him.”

The voice doesn’t reply but gets replaced by clicking sounds, then static and after a couple of minutes, _his_ voice resonates on the com, “Brother dear? Is it really you?” 

_He_ cackles, and Junmyeon feels his whole body shivering. He can sense the malevolence through the speaker, can feel his twin brother’s spite and sick satisfaction through the grainy audio. Junmyeon swallows, stuttering, “Yes, yes, me, it’s me Suho.”

“Prove it,” Suho singsongs, “What happened during the time you stole my favourite toy when we were eleven?”

Junmyeon swallows his eyes, taking a deep breath as he tries to _not_ think about that time. He knows Suho has already begun with his games and Junmyeon knows he will see and deal with more, so he pushes through the fear paralysing his body as he says, “You tied my hands and feet and threw me into the lake to see how many time I would drown and then come back.”

Suho cackles louder and Junmyeon wants to fall to his knees. “Brother! It is you! Come in, come in! I will send my righthand to you right away! He’s probably perched somewhere. Look up!”

Junmyeon doesn’t understand the last part but he cranes his neck and suddenly, within a minute something dark and heavy lands in a thud beside him. Junmyeon realises it is a man, and a tall one at that. He straightens his back and removes the hood shrouding his face. Junmyeon notes he is rather scary-looking with his thick eyebrows and the scar crisscrossing across his cheek. Junmyeon wonders briefly how he got it but he shakes his head and asks, “Are you Suho’s right, um, righthand?”

The man nods, “I’m Kris, you can call me Yifan too if that’s more comfortable.” Yifan takes a moment to rake his gaze all over Junmyeon, who instantly feels paranoid. He doesn’t know this man, he doesn’t know what evil Suho has kept under his wing. Yifan stops at his face and says, “You do look a lot like him.”

Junmyeon didn’t expect that so he is a bit taken aback. He collects himself quickly and says, “We are twins, after all.”

Yifan smirks, “He only calls you brother, we didn’t know you were a twin.” He walks over to the biometric keypad and says, “You’re alike but different too, I guess.” He presses his forefinger, then punches in six digits. The massive iron doors slide open and the gaping darkness horrifies Junmyeon and he shakes in fear a little. However, a warm air engulfs him and he whips his head about to realise Yifan has his arms around him, keeping some inches of distance from his body and the air in between his hands and body shimmer. Junmyeon realises Yifan is creating the hot air. The other says, “I guess you’re cold. Kyoong’s clothes might fit you.”

Junmyeon doesn’t know who this Kyoong is but he nods. He also murmurs, “Thank you.” He doesn’t understand this man—he looks like he can gut Junmyeon alive but he also is now being kind to him. Yifan shrugs his shoulders and tilts his head towards the left. Junmyeon steps forward and the floor lights up as he steps in further. Soon, a wall emerges with more lights and another keypad—this time it has a retina scan. Junmyeon frowns, things weren’t this complicated a decade ago.

Yifan punches in more numbers, scans his eye and the door swings open. There is a lift that starts descending as soon as they step on it. Under the fluorescent light, Junmyeon notes Yifan is actually rather handsome but he keeps wondering about the scar and how he got it. It looks like someone took time to carve out the mark on his face. 

The elevator moves fast and within a minute, Junmyeon knows they are at the first basement level. The doors whoosh open and before Junmyeon could get accustomed to the bright lights, a loud, familiar voice says, “Brother!”

Junmyeon squints and when his vision adjusts, he widens his eyes, gasping slightly at his brother, his twin, his mirror image. He doesn’t recognise this Suho, with his messy red hair and blue eyes. Suho finds him staring and laughs, “I know, quite the makeover, right? I took that serum you wouldn’t take.” He touches his bare chest (he is only dressed in a red suit jacket and red trousers) and hums, “Some side effects, but I quite like this look. Don’t you?”

Junmyeon doesn’t know how to answer that. Suho always had that unhinged gleam in his eyes and the all-red avatar in front of him frankly makes him even more afraid. He could turn around and leave, Suho won’t assassinate his own brother, right? But then something equally worse awaits him up there, so he nods, his voice trembling, “Red’s your colour, Suho.”

Suho laughs, throwing his head back. Junmyeon notes how broader and bulkier his brother has gotten too. Is it the serum again? Junmyeon shudders, thinking how else it has affected Suho and thinking how he escaped his fate. Suho stops laughing and snaps his fingers. Two figures emerge out of the shadows and Junmyeon instantly recognises them: Jongin and Baekhyun.

However, Junmyeon realises even that has changed. Jongin now has metallic green hair and his eyes are of a different colour. Baekhyun too, looks different, with his blinding white hair and lighter amber-grey eyes and he too has a scar from one ear to another, lining over his nose. It is the same thin scar Yifan spots in an X on his face. But it’s not just their appearance when Suho calls them, “Kai, Kyoong, take Jun to a room and give him some dry clothes.” He tilts his head and smiles at Junmyeon, “Are you hungry brother?” Junmyeon quickly shakes his head. “Oh? Okay. Then get changed and you can tell me why you’re here.” He laughs and rubs his hands. “You must be in some real trouble, huh?”

Junmyeon doesn’t say anything and looks down at his feet. He hears Suho laughing again and then instructing Yifan something. Junmyeon can’t hear it, his shame, his guilt now eating him whole. He shouldn’t have come here, he shouldn’t.

Before he can plan his escape, he feels Jongin and Baekhyun—no Kai and Kyoong—take their places beside him. He looks at them but he sees no hint of recognition. Did they take the serum too? Did that erase all their memories? Does this mean that perhaps Chanyeol, Jongdae and Sehun are here too somewhere? Did they take the serum too?

But he doesn’t get his answer when Suho disappears down a corridor and they walk down another. Yifan follows a couple of steps behind. Kai and Kyoong show Junmyeon to a room and as Kai ruffles through the closet to look for clothes, Kyoong gently curls his fingers around Junmyeon’s elbow and his voice is raspy when he says, “I think I remember you hyung. Did you play with me when we were young?”

Junmyeon is surprised; so he was right. Their memories have been altered too. But Suho remembers him...he pushes that aside and nods, smiling, “Yeah, we did.”

Kyoong’s eyes are not entirely lifeless like Kai’s are. So, when he smiles, Junmyeon almost sees the Baekhyun in it. But then Kai says, “Kyoong! Do you want another scar?”

Kyoong curls into himself and steps aside. Yifan looks at the whole exchange and says, “Kai, Kyoong, you two can go. I will take it from here. I think Loey and Xun are returning from the other base and will be here in a few. Make sure you have Chen and Xiumin clean their tracks.”

Kai and Kyoong nod and march away. Yifan looks at Junmyeon, who has been staring about him with wide-eyed trepidation even though there was curiosity burning through his veins. What is his brother doing here? And who are Loey, Xun, Chen and Xiumin? Are they more people he used to know but have changed? Did Suho give Baekhyun—and maybe Yifan—the scar? 

_Jongin is groaning about something again and Baekhyun is laughing at his discomfort. This is a usual scene to be seen whenever Junmyeon returns from his tutoring classes. Junmyeon puts down his satchel and grins, “Now, what did Baek do Nini?”_

_Jongin, all of thirteen, pouts, “Baek hyung ate my cake again!”_

_Junmyeon clicks his tongue, glaring at Baekhyun. “Baek, that isn’t very nice. You know we only get to eat cake once a month.”_

_Baekhyun bites his tongue and his grin widens before he puts his hand over the table and the light shimmers away to show a box of pastries. Junmyeon gasps; he knows Baekhyun has been learning how to bend light to make things invisible. Jongin, thankfully, stops crying and says, “Hyung, wow!”_

_Junmyeon too is wowed and he gently squeezes Baekhyun’s shoulder in encouragement._

Yifan points at the clothes on the bed and then at a door inside the room. “The bathroom’s that way. I will wait outside, call me when you’re done.”

Yifan says nothing else and steps outside after Junmyeon nods at him with a small smile, closing the door behind him. Junmyeon stands there for a second before sighing. He is here and he can’t leave—that much he’s sure of now.

Yifan steps outside and he hears Junmyeon shuffling around inside the room. He takes a deep breath. Junmyeon and Suho may share a face but he has never seen two more people more different. Suho is his boss, his benefactor, judge, jury and executioner—and when the mood suits, he is who Suho chooses to warm his bed (he knows it is sometimes Kai, Xun, Loey or Tao too). And Junmyeon is worlds’ apart from Suho—especially when he smiled, Yifan understood the difference.

He has been here for the last eight years and he was among the new mutant recruits Suho had saved from the police. There was him, Zitao, Lu Han, Minseok, Kyungsoo and Yixing running from the police after they led an uprising against the anti-mutant government in their country. They had failed and they were to be executed but then Suho offered them shelter and a job. Suho runs the underworld and he needed more hands, more brains, and apparently, Yifan and his team has shown tremendous potential for crimes. Kyungsoo and Minseok were against it in the beginning but when they realise a fate worse than being a mafia lord’s employees awaited them, they agreed. So far, they have lived without consequence. And then one day, Yifan had to raise why Suho mistreated Kyoong and Xun so much (the serum didn’t completely erase their memories).

_“Yifan, do you know why I gave you all codenames?” Suho asks as he picks up the scalpel._

_Yifan is tied to the chair, sweat running down his spine. He shouldn’t have said anything but then Suho punished them and he had to see it happen. He saw how Suho cut a line over Sehun’s right eye, over his eyelid and eyebrow and rendering the boy sightless for months. He saw how Junmyeon cut the line across Baekhyun’s face, from one ear to another. Baekhyun had to cover his face for days. He just wanted Suho to stop, he thought he had an equal relationship with Suho, specifically after Suho made Yifan his righthand, but Yifan’s delusions are destroyed now._

_Suho continues, “I had a twin, a weakling. He left, refusing to take the serum that would make us stronger, better. I was named Suho, the guardian, and he got a flimsy name like Junmyeon. I like my name better, so when they forgot their real names after the change, I thought to give them cool names like mine. I think Kris for you is pretty cool, too, right?” He grins and the malice drips from his teeth, his eyes._

_Yifan struggles, trying to free himself but then Suho inches closer and puts the scalpel under his chin. Yifan stops and he says, “You don’t, you don’t have to do this. I won’t say such things again.”_

_Suho clicks his tongue and pouts, “How can that be? Don’t I have a reputation to keep?”_

And then Yifan remembers only blinding pain as Suho dug into his skin with the blade. Suho didn’t blind him or make the cut any deeper like Kyoong’s but it still left a mark. He bears Suho’s scorn, his punishment, his post-it for Yifan to behave. He knows Kai bears one on his back, Loey bears two on his face as well. Only Chen, among the changed ones, remains scar-free. Minseok told Yifan that Chen knows to not get on Suho’s bad side. He remembers more than others and he rather not take any risks. Yifan wonders what Suho would do if he knew Minseok knew all this; what he would do to both Minseok and Chen. 

There was one thing Suho hadn’t done to them. He hadn’t put the serum through their bloodstream. Suho had been impressed by their powers anyway, he didn’t think they needed any enhancements. Yifan could manipulate gravity and temperatures, Zitao can manipulate molecules, Lu Han manipulates objects and minds. Minseok can turn anything to ice, Kyungsoo can break even diamonds, Yixing can heal and kill (which he refuses to) in the same breath. They were already formidable—Suho thankfully spared them. Yifan doesn’t have many complaints against the other six but sometimes their apathy terrifies him. 

He has seen how Loey can burn a man alive to a crisp and not feel anything. He has seen how Kai can crack a person’s neck and then stomp down on their head with no remorse. He has seen Kyoong using his rapier in swift, quick movements. Chen doesn’t go on field missions much, but Yifan had seen him use his electrical mimicry and burn everything around him to the ground. Xun can change reality along with his air manipulation but Yifan hasn’t seen him be as lethal like the rest. Lastly, there was Suho, whose method of taking life is possible the cruellest.

Suho manipulates and creates water. And what are humans but mostly water? Yifan has seen him dehydrating people from the inside, filling their lungs with water with no water source around. But there was a day Yifan had to witness Suho raise the temperature of a person and their blood actually reached boiling point. Yifan still has nightmares of the body just bursting blood and flesh everywhere to this day.

He can’t leave, neither can his team. The world outside isn’t kind to people like them and if the long-lost brother of Suho returned, then what hope can Yifan have?

The door behind him opens and Junmyeon steps out. Yifan turns his head around and something happens, his heart skips a beat but he can’t understand why. He can’t fathom why Junmyeon’s flushed cheeks, towel-dry hair and clean, soap scent makes his whole body react. Then, Junmyeon looks at him and Yifan can see how clear and brown his eyes are without those spectacles (so unlike Suho’s vivid blue eyes that hold no softness, no affection for anything). He smiles and Yifan notes he has a mole atop his lip (Suho doesn’t have one) and his lips look so inviting. Yifan shakes his head, he is doing some projecting here, he is sure. But he will think about all of that later. He says, “Follow me.”

They return to the landing they came to on first and take the direction Suho had taken. Yifan takes him to the elevator that goes directly to Suho’s office at the lowest level. Yifan doesn’t speak much but he can tell Junmyeon has questions because as soon as the doors to the elevator closes, he asks, “Baekhyun’s scar, Suho did it?”

Yifan frowns, “Baekhyun? Do you mean Kyoong?” Junmyeon nods. “Oh yeah, Suho did.” He touches his cheek, smirking slightly, “Before you ask, this one too.”

Junmyeon’s eyes widen; it is not like he cannot imagine his twin being this cruel, it is just he wonders what made Suho do it. He eyes Yifan surreptitiously, he takes in the sharp side profile, the high cheekbones, the bold eyebrows and Junmyeon realises, as his face warms, that Yifan is possibly among the most handsome men he had ever seen. He also understands Yifan probably doesn’t have the serum running in his veins and neither does he have the same lifeless stance Kai had. 

The elevator stops and they step out of it and the air is frigid. Junmyeon bites down on his lip to stop the shiver as he asks, “Why is it so cold here?”

Yifan smirks, “Probably Minseok again. He has been playing around with the air-con here, seeing what the optimal temp could be.” He looks at Junmyeon, his gaze softening, “Do you want me to make some warm air?”

Junmyeon shakes his head as they walk down the path. The walls here are lit white from within and the floor is a dark black. It is clinical and cold, something Junmyeon would associate with his twin. However, Yifan’s offer makes his face warm again as he says, “I will live.” He crosses his arms and mumbles, “I just want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

Yifan blurts out, without thinking, “You think he will just let you go like that?”

“Careful Wu,” someone hisses behind them. They both turn their heads around to find a short, bespectacled man scowling at them. “Don’t say such things.”

Yifan grins, “Hey, Kyungsoo. Isn’t this past your bedtime?”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and then he looks at Junmyeon. He is surprised but he handles it well (Junmyeon could tell either which way) and he says, “You’re the twin, eh?” Junmyeon bows a little. “Well, I won’t be stopping you.” 

Kyungsoo walks away and Junmyeon frowns, “I didn’t recognise him. And he didn’t have a codename.”

Yifan presses his lips and swallows, “He’s with me. He came here along with me.” Junmyeon’s eyes widen and his lips part but Yifan already knows what he will ask, so he beats the other to it, “I will tell you later.”

Junmyeon smiles a little and covers his mouth his sleeve. Yifan notes the soft cream sweater he is wearing and Yifan wonders if it belongs to one of the taller members because Junmyeon is drowning in it. Yifan looks away when he thinks his pulse is beating a bit too fast for his liking. They reach the door to Suho’s office and Yifan knocks. Suho says, “Come in!”

Yifan opens the door and to his surprise, he finds the head of the security of their latest target’s sitting in Suho’s office. He collects himself and gestures at Junmyeon to wait outside. He closes the door and says, “Junmyeon is waiting outside.”

Suho grins; he has thrown a shirt under his suit and Yifan doesn’t think it helps because he can see the splatters of blood on the white shirt. Blood that came from the man whimpering on the seat opposite, hands tied to the chair, mouth gagged. Suddenly, Chen steps out from the shadows and nods at Yifan, “Good evening, Kris.”

“Chen.” Yifan nods. He then looks back at Junmyeon. “What should I do?”

Suho shrugs, “Bring him in. I want him to see this.” He grins again and his eyes gleam. “It’d be fun.”

Yifan swallows, wanting to disobey this order but then he glances at Chen, who raises one eyebrow slightly. Yifan nods and goes back towards the door and opens it. He finds Junmyeon pacing outside as he says, “Come in.”

Yifan frowns slightly but wipes it off his face. Junmyeon steps in and Yifan closes the door behind them. Suho’s office is lit up in purple and green lighting and it creates an interesting clash of shadows. It is dark but Junmyeon can everything clearly. Junmyeon eyes his brother, then the man on the chair. He recognises Jongdae and he is almost about to speak but then he realises this Jongdae with heterochromatic eyes and lip piercings probably doesn’t know who he is. 

_“Hyung!” Jongdae shouts and trips on his feet in his excitement. Junmyeon laughs and moves to help pick his younger friend up. Jongdae just turned five and his powers have already started to show. He often ends up crying when he accidentally sends electric sparks to fly in the air. Right now, they have those odd days they can step outside and in the sunlight. So, all the children have been playing and running around to their heart’s delight._

_Junmyeon dusts the grass off Jongdae’s pants and smiles, “What is it Dae?”_

_Jongdae grins, “I found a baby squirrel, come look!”_

This Jongdae has murder in his eyes and holds no trace of recognition in them. He cracks his neck and walks up to the man tied in the chair. Junmyeon puts a hand over his mouth when he realises the man is bleeding from cuts on his neck, cheeks, nose, temple and ears. Suho claps his hands and says, “So, brother, do you want to know what this man did?” 

Junmyeon has no interest in knowing but he also knows he doesn’t have a choice here. Suho continues, “The other mutant team keeps humans as bodyguards and this man had the audacity to spy on us but unfortunately for him, we were already spying on them. So, now we teach him a small lesson” He looks at Jongdae, “Chen, please continue.”

Then Junmyeon watches in wide-eyed horror as Jongdae cleanly slices the man’s ear off with a small dagger. The man screams but it gets muffled by the gag. Blood gushes out of the wound, staining his suit and making a small pool on the floor. Suho giggles and Junmyeon looks to his brother, his eyes wide as his heart pounds. Suho looks like he is having the time of his life, his glee pouring out of him. He fists his hand and the blood on the ground rises up in globes and floats in the air. When the globes get bigger and the man’s complexion gets paler, his eyelids droop and his chest heaves, Junmyeon figures out what his brother is doing and he screams, “Stop it!”

Suho chuckles and unfurls his fists. He looks at Junmyeon and asks, “So, you do remember how to do this, huh?”

Junmyeon bites down on his lip to stop the sob threatening to escape. He is here because he used that power. He thought he had forgotten, he thought he possibly couldn’t. 

But Suho isn’t finished. He circles around Junmyeon and says, “I mean, that’s why you’re here brother dearest. I know, I had D.O. do a little digging after all.” Suho stops and he is standing right in front of Junmyeon. They are of the same height and they see eye to eye but for some reason, Junmyeon always felt dwarfed by Suho, always felt he was too diminutive, too powerless under his twin’s aura. Suho was born three minutes before him but at times, Junmyeon feels there is an eternity of a divide between them. And now, that he knows his brother knows, he feels even smaller, more useless. He wants to curl up on the floor and disappear. He did the one thing he was never supposed to do. 

Suho curls his fingers under Junmyeon’s chin and pushes his head back, forcing Junmyeon to meet his gaze. Junmyeon’s vision is blurred due to the tears he is holding back and Suho’s cold blue gaze is unrelenting, threatening. His grip tightens on Junmyeon’s chin and his lips curl up on one side. There is nothing nice about that smile. Suho lowers his voice, making it raspier, harsher, “So, little brother finally cracked, huh? How did it feel? Taking a life? Something you so abhorred doing? Hm?” The nail on Suho’s thumb digs into Junmyeon’s chin and Junmyeon bites down the whimper of pain. He knows his brother can tell he is suffering and he knows Suho is enjoying it.

_“I just wanted to see how long he can stay under,” Suho, all of eleven, says as he shrugs his shoulder. The man calling himself their father scowls. Junmyeon, meanwhile, looks up at his twin from the mud he is lying on. Ten hours, he was in the water for ten hours. His lungs filled up with water that his body got rid of and then it got filled again. He couldn’t break through the surface either because Suho made sure the water’s surface wouldn’t break, putting pressure on the molecules, making it feel like a wall. The whole cycle happened so many times that Junmyeon stopped counting after the hundredth._

_Their father tries to scold Suho but Junmyeon knows it doesn’t work. It will probably never work. That is why, when their father died five years later, Junmyeon ran away._

Suho says, his voice breaking through Junmyeon’s flashback, “I will help you because you’re family after all.” The grin slips off his face as he resumes, “But I have some conditions.”

Junmyeon feels a tear slipping down his cheek. He came to the devil for help after all, what else was he expecting?

_“Junmyeon? I need you to stay back tonight, help me with the reports,” the boss says. Junmyeon smiles a little, even though he doesn’t want to, he nods. Wen Tangyi is his boss, he can’t possibly say no. He feels a hand on his shoulder, slightly squeezing and he feels his soul dying. Wen has been coming onto him for months._

_Junmyeon was happy in the company, working as an assistant financial analyst but then his previous boss decided to head for greener pastures in the USA and they replaced the nice man with this walking-talking harassment lawsuit. At first, it was the women who were bothered and then, suddenly, Junmyeon came under his microscope. It was small things in the beginning that Junmyeon brushed off. An accidental touch, a flyaway comment here and there, Junmyeon didn’t see it. But then he noticed the pattern. The hand on his arm would stay for too long. The gaze on his body would be too intense. Junmyeon knows he is handsome enough but to be harassed by someone like this is not something he wanted_

_It’s not like he hasn’t been to the HR. The woman did take him seriously and helped him file a complaint anonymously but then, strangely, she was gone a week after the complaint. Junmyeon understood his boss had connections deep and wide. Either he finds a new job and leaves or he endures it for a while, hoping it goes away. So far, it has worked. Junmyeon wasn’t taking any overtime, wasn’t spending any extra minute alone with Wen, would send the important reports and files through someone else, and so on. But looks like his luck ends today._

_It is not like he has much of a choice in this matter. His Mandarin isn’t fluent enough to go through the documents their head office from China sent. Wen knows this and he is taking advantage of it. Junmyeon sighs as he watches Wen leave. He has to be extra careful tonight._

_Everyone leaves the office by seven and it is almost eight when Wen calls Junmyeon to the office. The first red alert rings when Junmyeon notices Wen has spread the files and put down his laptop on the coffee table instead of the desk. And there is only one couch and one chair around the table. Junmyeon takes the chair and boots his laptop up. Wen does throw him a glance, which he doesn’t miss, but to his surprise, Wen actually works earnestly. At least for the next hour._

_“Junmyeon? I think my Google sheet froze, can you see?” Wen says._

_Junmyeon doesn’t pay attention to it much, the tone or the way Wen is looking at him, and nods, swiftly moving from his chair to the couch. He bends down to look at the laptop screen and jerks in surprise when he feels Wen’s hand on his lower back. He shifts away, ready to jump to his feet but Wen puts his other hand right atop his thigh, pushing him down. Junmyeon widens his eyes and says, “Mr Wen! What do you think you’re doing!”_

_Wen grins, his wanton expression is like cold water over Junmyeon, numbing him when he understands where this is going. He can’t let this happen, he can’t. He pushes the older man but Wen is stronger and he has Junmyeon pressed on his back to the sofa. Wen whispers as he pushes his body onto Junmyeon, “I’ve wanted you like this for so long.”_

_Junmyeon swallows the cry scratching at his throat. He feels disgusted when he feels Wen’s erection poking into his thigh, it makes the bile rise up his oesophagus. He closes his eyes when he feels Wen’s warm, wet breath fanning against his neck, his hands groping his sides. He feels tears pooling in his eyes and he feels his heart throbbing, his body suddenly taking over, knowing it’s under threat. He feels the rush of power in his veins. He opens his eyes and he knows they must glow a bright aquamarine because that’s how he knew back then that he was using his power—the coldness in his veins and the way his eyes would burn like he had hot water filling them._

_Wen stops breathing, going lax over him. Junmyeon gently pushes him aside. It is only when he comes down from the high his power gives does he realises what he did._

_He just sucked all the life out of a human being._

Junmyeon wakes up with a jolt. He had been dreaming about Wen’s last moments again. The way the body went slack, the way Wen’s eyes remained open, the way his skin cracked, blood oozing out of his pores—blood that Junmyeon had siphoned out of his body. He swallows, his throat dry as he turns his head to look out of the window of the van he is in travelling to the city outskirts. The warehouse is in a small town three hours from the main city and they are still not in the main city yet even though midnight has fallen and their appointment is in an hour. Junmyeon hopes they make it in time as he stares into the darkness, shapes rushing by that he can only assume are trees. Sometimes, the tree lines break and a meadow or a field can be seen bathed in the cloudy light of the half-moon. 

Suho had kept his part of the deal. He had made Wen’s body and his whole life disappear within the night. Now, Junmyeon was to keep his part of the bargain: he can’t leave till Suho deems his debt paid. And Junmyeon knows Suho will drag this out for as long as he can. So, he is trapped. 

It has been two days since he came back to the warehouse and getting reintroduced to place was jarring. Suho had changed a lot of things. The laboratories were gone, replaced by shooting ranges, fight practice gyms and the like. Suho also made a whole new level for himself and his tech team—basically people who spied on friends and enemies alike. Chen and D.O. head this department.

The other jarring thing was meeting Chanyeol and Sehun again. Or as they called themselves—Loey and Xun. None of them held any recollection of Junmyeon in their eyes even though these two men would spend the most time with him a decade ago. 

_“Hyung,” Chanyeol bursts into tears the moment the paper in his hand starts burning._

_Junmyeon clicks his tongue but he quickly drops his book and uses a weak jet of water to put out the flame Chanyeol created. The boy is only a year younger than Junmyeon, who’s eight, but he behaves more childish than Baekhyun at times. His powers showed up pretty late though and it worried a lot of the people here. Now that he knows he can conjure flames, he has to learn how to control them. So far, he has almost burned a room down, put a whole shrub on fire and burned one of Junmyeon’s favourite book._

_Also, it is not surprising they paired Chanyeol with Junmyeon; with their contrasting powers, Junmyeon was the only one who could take out the flames. Suho wasn’t trusted with this since he had previously tried to drown Chanyeol. So, Junmyeon now stays with the younger boy, and he is not so bad as company. He just needs some help._

_“Did hyung set something on fire again?” a young boy with a lisp joins them in the study and Junmyeon smiles. It is Sehun, the youngest of the kids here. He is six years old and he has already come into his powers. He and Chanyeol share the same problems, and since Junmyeon has the most patience out of them all, Sehun too prefers hanging with him the most._

Junmyeon turns his head away and looks at the two tall men in front of him. Yifan is at the wheel while Xun is on the passenger seat. None of them is talking and the only sound in the car is the heater blasting warm air inside the car. Sehun, or Xun, hasn’t changed much, Junmyeon notes. His hair is still a deep, midnight black. His eyes, perhaps, are the only external change. They should both be an icy blue colour (one eye is under a eye-patch) and when they first met, Junmyeon had thought for half a second that Xun lacked pupils. However, he too bears a scar—that Suho gave no doubt—that runs from his forehead down to his cheekbone. It probably injured his right eye, so he keeps it covered. Junmyeon shudders lightly, thinking how it must have hurt. He had been on the receiving end of Suho’s brand of punishment as well. But it always has been related to water, the element they share. Neither of them was at a disadvantage but Junmyeon always knew Suho was stronger, better at this than he ever could be.

“We’re here,” Xun says when the car slows down. “You remember the place, right?”

Yifan just hums in response. He looks at Junmyeon from the driving mirror and he frowns a little. He wonders just how Junmyeon can help them tonight. Suho ordered him and Xun to take him and Yifan wasn’t going to question him and neither was Xun. Though he has to admit, he did see the dead body of the man Wen and it was no different than the corpses Suho has been responsible for. He didn’t know why Junmyeon killed the man and Suho seemed to know but he wasn’t divulging—Yifan can’t deny that he is curious. 

Yifan pulls the car up the raised path and smooths into the parking spot. The mission today was simple. Besides all the business Suho does, he also often takes on missions from people who need special help to get rid of their problems. Xun and Junmyeon will secure the mark and Yifan will have to pull the trigger. This isn’t anything new to Yifan and he will go back to his room and throw up again, kneel and pray for forgiveness. He knows he is going to hell but for the meantime, he has to survive this purgatory on earth as well. 

Their mark isn’t here yet, so Xun takes the ground while Yifan moves towards the vantage point. Junmyeon closes his eyes and tries to sense the presence of people. So far, he can tell there are none. This is one of the many things both twins can do: judge human presence by sensing out blood in their bodies. Junmyeon opens his eyes and finds Yifan looking down at him from the upper balcony in the parking lot. He sends Yifan a small smile, who sends back half a smile. He swallows thickly when he remembers what happened the night they went to remove Wen’s body.

_The rain has stopped and the office building looms large in front of them. Suho sent Lu Han, Yifan and this man named Zitao (Suho called him Tao but the guy was quick to ask Junmyeon to call him Zitao). Junmyeon doesn’t want to step inside, doesn’t want to face the horrible thing he did. Lu Han, the strange, quiet man suddenly speaks, “You’re scared.”_

_Junmyeon murmurs, “I’ve never done this before.” He isn’t surprised Lu Han picks up on his mental state; the man has immense telekinetic and empath powers after all. He also doesn’t miss the quick glance Yifan, Zitao and Lu Han share. He knows what they are thinking: Suho’s twin is so unlike him? Is that even possible?_

_Zitao, the more talkative of the trio, softly chuckles, “Nothing like your brother, then, eh?”_

_Junmyeon tugs at the sleeves of his sweater and whispers, “I was before this, maybe.” He feels someone’s hand resting on his shoulder and he looks up to find Lu Han smiling at him. Junmyeon finally blurts out what he wanted to ask since he came here, “Can, can I ask you something? Why are the six of you not like the rest? And whatever happened to the people who lived here?” He knew he wasn’t going to get answers from the other six and he was too afraid to ask when inside, so he couldn’t stop himself._

_Lu Han shrugs as he walks ahead, saying, “We don’t know much about those people. I hear they were the scientists who made that serum, right? I know, from Chen, that you guys were the second generation of mutants created in the lab. Me, Yifan, Tao, Minseok, Kyungsoo and Yixing weren’t made, so our powers are more organic and we naturally honed them over the years. I guess Suho understood that, so he realised we don’t need a power boost.”_

_Zitao huffs, falling into step, “For which, I’m thankful. I’ve been around both Xun, Kai and Loey for eight years and they still give me the creeps.”_

_Yifan scoffs, “I saw you and Xun talking a lot nowadays.”_

_To Junmyeon’s surprise, Zitao blushes and lightly shoves Yifan, murmuring an offended, “Shut up, gege.”_

_Yifan playfully shoves Zitao back and Junmyeon smiled a little at the exchange. The trio is so much livelier than most. Junmyeon bows his head, smiling and when he looks up, he finds Yifan looking at him. Junmyeon widens his eyes slightly and his smile falters but Yifan smiles back at him, just a lopsided one but Junmyeon understands. Yifan gets it._

_They enter the foyer and Lu Han uses his telekinesis to open the doors and then his mind control to put the two security guards at the entrance to sleep, and Zitao uses a small device to burn out all the security cameras in the place. They take the lift to the floor of Wen’s office and Junmyeon suddenly feels his feet turn to lead. He halts on the carpeted corridor. Zitao notices and gently asks, “Do you want to stay here?” When Junmyeon nods, he nods as well. “Okay, stay here, then. It will take us some time to clean out stuff.” He looks at Lu Han, “An hour tops?” Lu Han nods and Zitao looks back at Junmyeon. “Give us an hour.”_

_Junmyeon nods and shuffles to the side to go sit down on one of the couches in the reception area. He didn’t want to see Wen’s corpse. He didn’t want to see what he had done. He never quite had any control when he was emotionally compromised—which was the major difference between him and Suho. His twin always had control and Junmyeon was always too afraid of his own powers because he couldn’t control them. He sighs and pulls his knees up, tucking his head between his legs._

_He doesn’t know how or when but he ends up sleeping. The adrenaline of the past three hours finally passes and he simply crashes. He just knocks out, completely. When he awakes, he realises he is in the car, which is parked in a massive open space. He wonders who brought him here. The darkness feels solid but as his eyes adjust, he realises, based on the scraggly trees and naked hills, they are at the closed quarry some hours away from the town. The smell of something burning gets to him and he steps down from the car, wondering what’s going on._

_The air is wet and cold; a sharp wind blows and Junmyeon feels the chill in his bones. He looks around and finds a pyre smouldering nearby, three shadows around it. He crosses his arms and shivers, they must be burning Wen’s body. He walks closer and Zitao looks behind him. He grins, “Oh, you’re awake!”_

_Junmyeon looks at the fire, burning red and slow, the smell of flesh burning now making him gag a little. He feels someone step beside him and he looks up to find Lu Han smiling, “Why don’t you go sit in the car? I think we will be done soon.”_

_Junmyeon nods. He doesn’t think he can quite stand this smell, so he walks back to the car. He hears someone following him and he turns a little to see it’s Yifan. Yifan opens the driver side and Junmyeon slides into the passenger side. He is shivering again, so Yifan does the warm air thing again. He smiles, “Thank you.” He then asks, “Can I ask how you do that? You manipulate gravity, right? Then, this?”_

_Yifan smirks, “I get this from my mother, the gravity thing from my father.”_

_Junmyeon parts his lips, his eyes widening. “That’s cool.” Then his face warms as he considers, “Uh, did you carry me to the car then?”_

_Yifan chuckles and Junmyeon realises he likes the sound of that. “Well, not carry per se. I just picked you up and jumped from the tenth floor.”_

_Junmyeon widens his eyes, gasping, “Thank god I wasn’t awake for that!”_

_Yifan laughs and then he quiets down, biting his lip. He slowly asks, “May I ask why you killed Wen?”_

_Junmyeon curls into himself and slowly shakes his head. He looks out of the window, swallowing, trying to push the knot of discomfort away. He is not ready to talk about this. “I can’t.”_

_Yifan raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment on it. The others return to the car._

Yifan has been, well, surprisingly nice to him. Junmyeon isn’t entirely sure why but it is nice to have someone to talk to. Zitao talks to him too but Suho keeps Lu Han busy with a million things, so Junmyeon has hardly seen him in the last two nights. Yifan (and Minseok—or his given name, Xiumin) has been with him mostly, taking their meals together, talking about this and that. Junmyeon can almost say he has a friend in Yifan maybe. Yifan, right now, gestures at him to join him. 

Junmyeon crouches down beside him and watches as Yifan takes out the sniper rifle and checks his box of bullets. Junmyeon knows Yifan was raised in an underground mutant organisation like theirs but without the whole science experiment aspect of it. Yifan and his five friends were raised to be trained as soldiers, to aid the government’s secret service. But things went awry when the government cancelled their plans and started offing the mutants one by one. Yifan escaped with his friends and came to this town after they learned about this facility. They didn’t expect Suho and the others, but they were only teenagers back then and they needed the shelter. Basic needs pushed them to join Suho and his underground operations.

Junmyeon feels a little guilty about this. Yifan and the others arrived two years after he left. According to Minseok, the massacre Suho initiated happened a few months after Junmyeon left. So, Suho needed more heads and reached out to Yifan. Suho manipulated them to stay and Yifan couldn’t say no. 

Junmyeon looks at Yifan again as he places the gun against the railing, checking his focus. Yifan is kind of, well, handsome. He is tall with broad shoulders, sweeping dark hair and deep, intense eyes. Junmyeon knows this moment in his life, he shouldn’t be ogling at good-looking men but he can’t help it. It is silly to develop a crush, especially when he doesn’t even know Yifan all that well.

Xun whistles from where he’s standing and Yifan gets ready, cocking the gun. He asks in a low whisper, “Is the mark alone?”

Junmyeon closes his eyes and focuses on the sound of blood rushing. He feels Yifan’s steady stream, his heart calm as he focuses. He feels Xun’s equally calm heartbeat. Then, he feels another heartbeat, this one is slightly erratic, fear probably making their heart rabbit in their chest, speeding the rush of blood in their veins. He doesn’t sense anything else but he frowns. He senses something extremely faint. He whispers back, “There is someone else Yifan, but it feels like it is far away. Maybe, it is just a passerby?”

Yifan frowns, putting his eye on the viewfinder, “Could be, could be not.” He touches his in-ear and says, “Xun, keep your eyes open, there might be someone else.”

Xun nods; Junmyeon peeks out from the edge, his own heart now pounding. A car enters the garage and the door opens to a man stepping out. Xun is to pretend to be a drug dealer and lure the mark out. He would pass an empty suitcase and then Yifan would take the hit. The plan goes accordingly and Junmyeon scowls, his suspicions rising when he realises the mark is trying to keep Xun there through small talk. 

Yifan doesn’t dally and he pulls the trigger. As the bullet whizzes through the barrel, Junmyeon feels it, the other presence becoming louder. He opens his mouth to say something but then Yifan lets out a muffled cry of pain and falls back. Xun immediately whips out his foldable crossbow and lets out an arrow, his wind guiding it to the target. Junmyeon looks at Yifan, writhing in pain, his blood seeping out from his right shoulder. 

The moment Yifan shot the gun, somebody else shot him. The mark wasn’t alone, he bought his own sniper. The mark lies inert on the floor, a bullet mark in his head. Junmyeon doesn’t pay attention to that and rushes towards Yifan, kneeling beside him. He puts his hand around Yifan’s shoulder and reverses the blood flow, trying to stop the bleeding. Yifan smiles slightly, his face paling, “It’s okay. Go see if Xun’s okay.”

Junmyeon shakes his head, “I’m sure he’s fine. He got that other man, I can’t hear his blood.”

Yifan nods, “Cool, cool. I think we need to go back and get Lay to help me.”

Junmyeon feels the bleeding cease and he puts his hands away. He hears footsteps and looks behind him to see Xun running up to them. He is unscathed and he scowls deeply when he sees Yifan and Junmyeon on the floor. He asks, “What happened?”

Junmyeon answers, “The other hitman got Yifan. I stopped the bleeding but the bullet is inside him.”

Xun nods, “Let’s go back now.” He puts his crossbow away and gently picks Yifan up. Junmyeon rushes to help and between Xun and him, they keep Yifan on his feet as they slowly make their way to the car. 

Yifan passes out as soon as they are inside the car. Xun drives this time and Junmyeon stays in the back with Yifan’s head on his shoulder. As they drive silently through the night, Junmyeon notices Xun keeps glancing at the back through the driving mirror. Junmyeon has Yifan’s head on his lap and his hand rests on Yifan’s shoulder, so he keeps the pressure on the wound as he asks, “Xun, is something wrong?”

Xun is a quiet speaker, always measuring his words perfectly and choosing them carefully. He says, “I didn’t think you could do that. Keep the blood in instead of letting it all out.”

Junmyeon frowns, finding the statement odd. Then, he understands. Xun must have only seen Suho use his powers to kill. He looks down at Yifan, now breathing normally on his lap, his face briefly illuminated as they pass a street lamp. He says, “Our powers aren’t necessarily bad. It’s how we use them.”

Xun opens his mouth to say something, to comment on that but he doesn’t say anything. He just looks ahead, at the road the car’s headlights illuminate. The whitish-yellow light reminds him of the faint memories he sometimes sees inside his head. A warm afternoon, large windows, three boys in a room—one setting something on fire, the other trying to put it out with water and the last one, who looks a lot like him, laughing at the whole mess. He whispers, “You’re that hyung, aren’t you? I remember you, sometimes.”

Junmyeon smiles as he remembers as well. “I’m glad you do, Sehun.” He shakes his head, clicking his tongue, “Sorry, Xun.”

Xun smiles, his lips quirking a little. He softly says, “You can call me Sehun, hyung. I don’t remember much of him, but you help.”

Junmyeon feels his throat clogging up; Sehun hasn’t forgotten, not entirely. He knew there was something more in his eyes than it did in Kai’s and Loey’s. He looks down at Yifan again, who opens his eyes slowly, his throat rasping as he asks, “Where are we?”

Xun says, “Twenty minutes more, ge.”

Junmyeon doesn’t really think as his fingers sink into Yifan’s hair, slowly carding through them. Yifan looks at him, his gaze a little muddled as he murmurs, “He’s a good kid.”

Junmyeon knows Sehun is a good kid, he has known that. He remembers the day they introduced the last of them to be born inside the facility. Sehun had survived, along with Jongin. They were going to be the last batch, and they survived among the ten children they tried to incubate. Junmyeon was all of three when he met Sehun, who was busy crying, exercising his little lungs to their full potential. He remembers meeting them all because Suho and he were the oldest, the first of the lot. Then came Baekhyun, Jongdae, Chanyeol. And the adults wouldn’t stop, they wanted to see what else they could create with the genes of the first mutants. Then after many, many trials, arrived Jongin, and finally, Sehun. He closes his own eyes and takes a deep breath. 

These ten years that he missed, what did happen to them all? Just what did that EXO-deux serum do to them? 

_Junmyeon stands in the middle of the lab, his feet bare as he stands in the pool of blood. Around him, the bodies of two men and one woman lying prone, lifeless on the cold, ceramic tiles, their bodies shrunken, dehydrated. They had bled out of every pore on their body, every orifice. And in the middle of this all, stands his brother, his mirror image, Suho._

_Today was the day both Suho and Junmyeon were to be used as test subjects for the new serum called EXO-deux. This serum was supposed to make them stronger, more powerful. Junmyeon was not keen about this but as the oldest in the facility, they had to go first. They had just turned sixteen when the adults said they had perfected the serum._

_Suho wanted it, almost too eager to get injected. And now that he has, Junmyeon knows he can’t do it. Suho turns around, his eyes wide and Junmyeon gasps when he sees how one of them has turned blue. He grins and it scares Junmyeon. He raises his fists and clenches his fingers, unclenching it. He says, “Gosh, Jun, you should feel it, the power. I think I want more, don’t you?”_

_Junmyeon steps closer, wishing to stop it but he doesn’t know how. Since they are twins, Junmeon can feel it, the crazy rush of power flowing through Suho’s bloodstream. He shivers slightly knowing Suho won’t ever use this power for good, he won’t. The blood fills the gap between his toes and he swallows the bile wanting to crawl up his throat. He reaches for his brother, whispering, “Suho, Suho…”_

_Suho cackles, his voice catching as he tilts his head. He coughs, bowing his head, thumping his chest. Junmyeon gets worried and he rushes, splashing through the blood. He clutches Suho’s shoulders and pulls him to his chest, crying, “What’s happening?”_

_Suho stops coughing and looks up at his brother, his lips still curled up in a maniacal smile. “I think, they didn’t quite perfect it.” He puts his head on Junmyeon’s chest, right atop Junmyeon’s rapidly beating heart. “You, you’re just so full of life, aren’t you, Jun?”_

_Junmyeon is confused about what his brother means but then he feels it, his heart suddenly finds it hard to beat, like someone is squeezing it. His feet and hands feel numb, as if the blood doesn’t flow through them anymore. He understands what Suho is doing and he chokes, “Suho, no.” He pushes Suho away and his brother falls on his back, the blood seeping into his blue shirt and pants. Suho cackles but the iron grip around his heart and the numbness are gone. Junmyeon stumbles back and trips but catches himself. He widens his eyes and puts his hand over his heart, now beating again, fast and hard._

_Suho lies down on the floor, still cackling. He swirls his hands in the blood, like a child would move their hands in snow to make angels. Suho suddenly says, “I’d look good in red, wouldn’t I?”_

_Junmyeon doesn’t say anything, he just shakes his head and makes up his mind. He has to leave, he has to leave now. He doesn’t want to become what his brother has._


	2. TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //TW// about the Suho x EXO thing - there is consent and it is not exactly dub-con or non-con. You could call it a form of trauma bonding.

Yixing looks at Yifan and Junmyeon, laughing at something Yifan had said. Yixing has half a smile on his face because he rarely gets to see his friend smile so brightly but then he remembers, this isn’t right. He doesn’t know how Suho will react if he learns Yifan and Junmyeon are getting close. 

It has been a day since Xun and Junmyeon dragged an unconscious Yifan to the infirmary. Yixing is not a trained medical professional but he comes from a family of mutants with healing powers, which instantly made him the only person handling the infirmary. This also ensured he stays out of all the field missions or aboveground work Suho sends the others to. And he is glad about that because he rather not do all that. He can’t take a life, doesn’t matter if he knows how to, that his family had written how to. He never looked at those notebooks and he hopes he never has to.

He writes down Yifan’s report, noting the bullet and the make, just in case, and that’s when he remembers. He sighs loudly, which attracts Junmyeon’s attention. “Everything okay, Lay?”

Yixing smiles, his dimples showing, “I’m all out of antibiotics. I need to give Yifan some.”

Junmyeon perks up, “I can get it for you.” When Yixing widens his eyes in worry, Junmyeon waves his hands, “Don’t worry, Suho isn’t keeping me prisoner here. I can go up.” He then looks down at his shoes and murmurs, “He will find me even I left now.”

Yixing and Yifan share a look. They don’t know the whole extent of Suho and Junmyeon’s relationship, but they can make a guess. Junmyeon left and was gone for ten years, and so far, they can see how different the brothers are despite having the same powers. And Minseok, who was at the main gate speaker that night, has told them about the odd question Suho had asked and the equally strange answer Junmyeon had given. They had wondered what that meant and they wondered if Suho could be as cruel as he is to others towards his brother as well. Yixing feels a little easier as he says, “Alright. Let’s go then, I need to pick up a few more things anyway.”

Yifan suddenly speaks up, “You remember the passcodes, right?”

Yixing laughs and points at his phone, “Don’t worry, I keep them on my phone now.”

Junmyeon tilts his head in confusion. “Do the passcodes change often?”{

Yifan laughs, clutching his stomach. “Yixing here has the attention span of a goldfish!”

Yixing throws a towel at Yifan as he grumbles. Junmyeon smiles widely as he looks at Yifan grinning at Yixing, his gums on display. Despite the height, the power and the scar, Yifan’s smile is the brightest he’d ever seen. He looks away when he feels his face heating up. He has been staring a lot at Yifan and blushing while at it recently.

_ Junmyeon stays by Yifan as Xun goes off to find Yixing. Suho is apparently not here right now, which is a blessing according to Xun. Suho doesn’t like it when any of them get injured. He says it shows that they are incompetent. Junmyeon wanted to say something about  _ that _ but shut up anyway.  _

_ Yifan groans in pain as he tries to get comfortable on the bed. Junmyeon rushes over and helps him sit up. The bleeding has started again probably due to the jostling. The bullet is still inside, which is hurting Yifan a lot. Junmyeon locates a clean towel and uses it to wipe the sweat off Yifan’s face and the blood on his neck. Yifan exhales, “Thank you for whatever you did. Yixing can heal muscles and nerves but he has never been good with blood.” _

_ “So, this Yixing or Lay is a healer?” Junmyeon quietly asks. “I have heard of them. The lab really wanted to make one here but they’re usually hard to find.” _

_ “Healers are mostly hermits and live like nomads,” Yifan says, leaning back. His shoulder hurts tremendously but he can ignore it if he tries. “Suho was excited to meet Yixing.” _

_ “Oh my god, what happened?” _

_ Junmyeon turns around when he hears that and finds a man in bedhead hair and pyjamas looking aghast at Yifan. Junmyeon realises this must be Yixing, their healer. Yixing halts in his tracks, his eyes widening when they land on Junmyeon. He mumbles, “Suho? No, you must be the twin.” _

_ Junmyeon nods. “Yes.” He stands and bows, “Nice to meet you.” _

_ Yixing bows back, smiling, perhaps a little surprised by Junmyeon’s courteous behaviour. He forces his attention on Yifan and checks the injury. Another bullet wound, he has done this before. He clicks his tongue, shaking his head, “Alright, you know this will hurt.” _

_ Somehow Junmyeon ended up assisting Yixing as the latter pulled the bullet out of Yifan’s shoulder with forceps. Yifan had been gagged so he doesn’t bite his tongue but his muffled screams tell them just how much pain he is in. He is also sweating buckets, so Junmyeon wipes it and tries to soothe him by holding his hand. Yifan squeezes a bit too hard, making Junmyeon wince but the latter doesn’t complain. He can imagine how much this is hurting Yifan.  _

_ When Yixing is done, Junmyeon helps with clotting the blood. Yixing sends him a small smile when he realises what the other is doing. He cleans the blood around the wound and wraps the shoulder up. Junmyeon, meanwhile, had left for a moment and he comes back now with fresh clothes and a bottle of water.  _

_ Junmyeon ends up blushing a lot as Yifan strips to put on a fresh t-shirt. Yifan isn’t wildly muscled like Suho or Loey is and neither is he ripped like Kai but in all, he is well-built, all smooth and hard planes of muscle. Also, he has tattoos, which surprises Junmyeon immensely. With his t-shirt in place, Yifan has messed his hair and as he grins from behind a curtain of hair, Junmyeon hands him the bottle of water. Yifan struggles to get it open and Junmyeon helps. Their fingers brush and Junmyeon tries to pretend that doesn’t send his heart skipping beats.  _

_ That night, he spends it on a bed in the infirmary, watching Yifan sleep. He covers his face when he realises how creepy that kind of behaviour is but he keeps smiling under the blanket anyway. _

__

Junmyeon takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with the clean, nippy air. He is sitting behind Yixing on the latter’s scooter, driving to the main town centre. Yixing said that there is a big pharmacist there who keeps almost every kind of medicine they would need. He also said that even though he can heal most things, he still prefers to treat people conventionally, just using his powers to boost their natural healing. He believes that if he keeps healing everyone with his powers alone, their own bodies would stop defending itself entirely.

They reach the centre within thirty minutes and Junmyeon is surprised by how things have changed. Some of the buildings have been demolished to make space for new, sprawling spaces. There are a lot of new cafes and restaurants and he thinks he recognises the departmental store franchise that occupies the most space. The town has changed drastically in a decade and somehow, that makes Junmyeon melancholy. 

Yixing points at a store called Parallel Medics and says, “That’s the store.”

Junmyeon nods as the get down from the scooter and take off their helmets. They cross the street and Yixing suddenly stops, his head turned to the right, towards a lane by the store’s side. He looks back at Junmyeon and hands him the list and the cash he had as he says, “Um, can you get these things? I’ll be right back?”

Junmyeon frowns a little, not understanding why Yixing looks both nervous and excited at the same time. But he takes the list anyway and walks into the store. A young man named Hyuk is at the counter, busy furiously scribbling in a ledger. Junmyeon clears his throat and says, “Um, hi, I need this.” He hands the man a list and Hyuk smiles, nodding. He is a flurry of activity as he grabs everything Junmyeon needs. He pays for the medicine and he walks out with his purchase. He had expected to see Yixing but the man is nowhere near the scooter. He glances to his left, wondering where Yixing went.

He slowly walks and peeks around the corner and what he sees confuses him. Yixing is kissing a man with long dark hair and dressed in the same uniform he had seen the Hyuk guy wear. Yixing breaks the kiss and he is smiling up at the guy and the guy gently cups Yixing’s face, rubbing his nose against Yixing’s, who giggles. Junmyeon now feels bad for creeping like this, watching such a tender moment unfold, so he steps back. He decides to go wait by the scooter.

Yixing joins him in the next moment and his eyes are wide, his chest heaving and his lips look thoroughly bruised. Junmyeon smiles at him and Yixing droops a little. Junmyeon looks behind him and finds the man looking at them. He is rather tall and handsome too with fine features. Yixing glances over his shoulder and Junmyeon can sense his anxiety, so he quietly says, “I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Yixing whips his head around, his lips parting. Junmyeon watches the man enter the store and he again asks in his same calm tone, “Is he your boyfriend?”

Yixing nods his head slowly. “No one, no one knows.”

Junmyeon smiles, “I won’t tell, don’t worry. It’s nice to have someone to love.”

Yixing’s cheeks colour as he smiles too, twisting the hem of his t-shirt as he says, “Yes, it is.” He looks up then, his eyes sad as he says, “I want to be with him so badly but I know Suho won’t let me leave.” Junmyeon’s good mood gets ruined at that comment and he sighs, yet again wondering why his brother is keeping them all under lock and key like this. Yixing sees his troubled expression; he reaches forward and squeezes Junmyeon’s elbow. “Let’s go back.”

They start their journey back to the warehouse and Yixing thinks about Taekwoon. They can’t meet every time, let alone every day. Yixing can’t even do once a week lest it is too obvious. He keeps an old handset to just communicate with Taekwoon. They have known each other since he had come here and they only confessed their feelings to each other two years ago. Even though Yixing is unsure, he wants to have a life with Taekwoon, wants a home, wants to live as normally as possible (Taekwoon doesn’t know about his mutant abilities). But with Suho around, he knows it’s impossible.

Perhaps that’s why he has been praying for Suho’s death. He feels Junmyeon breathing behind him and for the first time since the arrival of the missing twin, he wonders if his prayers have been answered. 

Yifan doesn’t wish to be here; he had promised to show Junmyeon around, take him to the nearby woods and the lake. But Suho had returned last night after staying away from base for six days. In this time, things were much calmer and relaxed in the warehouse. Even Loey and Kai joined the others in activities like playing video games or basketball. Junmyeon was kind of amazed by the fact that they can indeed have fun. Everyone slowly warmed to Junmyeon and when he made them all those cookies, no one had anything else to say.

In this air-conditioned room, as Yifan sits on the edge of the bed, barechested, he smiles to himself, thinking about Junmyeon (when he should not).

_ “What are you doing?” Yifan asks as he finds Junmyeon measuring brown sugar. The shorter man is also in a large sweatshirt that he recognises as his (he tries to ignore how his heart skips a beat at that) and an apron. _

_ Junmyeon turns around with a big smile and says, “Making cookies.” He drops the brown sugar into the butter he has softened and stirs it thoroughly. “I would make some for the boys every now and then, or when the adults allowed.” _

_ Yifan gives half a smile as he thinks back to how happy Junmyeon was when Kyoong and Xun talked to him on their own. Since Suho wasn’t around, they didn’t feel afraid to reach out to their favourite hyung and try to recollect their memories. Even Chen joined but he looked conflicted. Yifan didn’t ask why but he can make a good guess why. Chen works the closest with Suho, even more than Yifan does. He is most worried to get attached again, especially when he holds most of the memories before the serum was injected into him. _

_ “Well, do you need any help?” Yifan offers. He is not very good in the kitchen but he also has not set anything on fire like Kai has. _

_ Junmyeon beams, “Will you? Can you take out the dough from the fridge and rolls them into balls and then put them on the baking sheet? The oven is already pre-heated.” _

_ Yifan can do that—those are simple instructions even if he has never made cookies before in his life. He has the cold dough in his hands and he is trying to shape into some shape that he hopes looks like a ball. Suddenly, as he concentrates hard, he hears Junmyeon laughing. Then, a warm body is pressed to his side and a hand stretches out in front of him, grabbing the rather large balls Yifan has made. Yifan watches as Junmyeon divides the ball into two and then rolls them between his palms. They are much smaller than what he had made but he is not really focused on that. _

_ Junmyein is close,  _ too  _ close. Yifan can smell his shampoo, even the lotion he had been using. He looks so soft, there is a part deep within Yifan that wants to just wrap Junmyeon in his arms and put his face into the crook of the other’s neck and just stay there. He never had this urge to hold someone or be held by someone. No, he lies, he hoped he’d have someone to hold but that was never so… _

_ Junmyeon looks up and he smiles, his eyes crinkling, “There, you need to make them about that big.” He notices Yifan is simply staring, so he gets a bit worried, “Hey, you okay there?” _

_ Yifan is transfixed by the mole atop Junmyeon’s lips and by his creamy skin and his pink lips. He is just so beautiful. Even if he shares this face with Suho, Yifan won’t call the other beautiful, so what is going on with him? He raises his hand, his thumb traces the mole as he murmurs, “This is what differs you from Suho.” _

_ Yifan watches, his breath catching, as a light pink slowly suffuses Junmyeon’s whole face. It hits his nose first and then travels to his ears. He parts his lips and Yifan has to swallow, has to push those erroneous, dangerous thoughts of his away. He takes his hand away and Junmyeon steps back a little, giving them space even though the heat in Yifan’s body refuses to cool down.  _

_ Junmyeon laughs, “Yeah, the adults were surprised. We were supposed to not have any flaws and Suho doesn’t really. But I have many moles.” _

_ Yifan wants to ask how many, wants to perhaps touch them all, wants to see how deep the rest of his body flushes, but he looks away and points at the dough, clearing his throat, “So, uh, how many can this sheet fit?” _

Yifan hasn’t been able to stop thinking about that day. Even now, as he waits for Suho to emerge from his shower, he is thinking about Junmyeon. He keeps wishing it was Junmyeon and not Suho tonight. 

Suho had simply pulled him to his room and pushed him against the wall, kissing him harshly. Yifan had been conditioned enough to know Suho needed some release tonight, so he had quietly followed and let Suho undress him. However, he suddenly decided to take a shower and asked Yifan to wait. Well, he said, “Don’t go anywhere Kris”, which was accompanied by a saccharine grin but there was nothing sweet about it. So unlike the way Junmyeon smiles…

Yifan slaps his own face and reminds himself he can’t let anyone know he is developing feelings for Junmyeon. He isn’t sure how Suho would react to that and he is not eager to know. He hears the shower get turned off and he prepares himself. It is not always when Suho wants penetrative sex, so Yifan isn’t exactly sure what the other would want tonight. He doesn’t see a bottle of lube anywhere, nor condoms.

And Yifan is proven right when Suho comes out of the shower, naked and hard. He shoves Yifan on his back and trails his fingers down the middle of his chest, grinning, “I want you to suck me off, okay? Can’t be limping for the meeting tomorrow.” He cups Yifan’s chin and grins, his thumb rubbing on his lower lip, “Use that pretty mouth of yours.”

A long time ago, when Yifan realised Suho wanted him physically, he was taken aback but he wanted the other too. How could he not? Suho was attractive and Yifan was a fool with a crush. When he would learn about Suho’s real personality after some time, it was too late to go back. 

Later, when Yifan would walk back to his room, he would not notice the shadow behind him. He would not realise that Junmyeon saw him leave his brother’s room, he would not know that the noises from the room woke him up. He also would not know how all of that broke Junmyeon’s heart.

It is another mark, another night and this time it was Loey and Kyoong with Yifan and Junmyeon. This operation is slightly bigger, more dangerous—they have to get three people and get back some things that belong to Suho’s associate, someone named JB. Junmyeon is horribly nervous and on top of that, he can’t bring himself to talk with Yifan after what he saw two nights ago. Yifan is trying to talk to him but all Junmyeon has managed are monosyllables. He can’t even bring himself to ask, to enquire what he saw. It could be a misunderstanding but what else could it mean?

The car ride is silent until Kyoong starts singing. Junmyeon recognises it as a popular song that he has heard himself many times, so he joins in. Kyoong is in the backseat with Junmyeon, so he sends the other a smile when he realises Junmyeon is singing. Both Yifan and Loey turn their head around for a moment. Yifan smiles a little—he has heard Kyoong singing often but this is the first time he is hearing Junmyeon sing and he does have a nice voice. Loey simply glances and then turns back to the road since he is the one driving. 

Kyoong sings, “Open your mind to me, who can make you the happiest. You can’t help it anymore either. I can feel it in your speech and gaze—”

Junmyeon adds, “Even while you pretend, you can’t hide your heart-fluttering feelings—” He stops when he feels Yifan’s gaze on him. Kyoong finishes the chorus and Junmyeon’s heart skips when he sees that soft, fond gaze on him. He doesn’t understand it but his words get lost on his tongue and he bows his head, looking away as a deep sadness fills him up again. He looks out of the window to hide the disappointment on his face and he misses how Yifan frowns at him, his own heart twisting in worry.

Yifan did notice the way Junmyon has been avoiding him for the last two days. He wonders how he could have offended Junmyeon, exactly what he had done to make Junmyeon behave like he no longer exists. It hurts more than it should. It feels like a boulder rests on his chest and he cannot dislodge it and he needs one of Junmyeon’s bright smiles to take it off. 

“We’re here,” Loey says. Yifan looks up and sees they are at their destination. It is a casino in the city’s more flashy area and the ostentatious light display in the front is sort of distasteful if you asked Yifan. But they are not here to judge the design of this place. They are here to grab the thing that was taken, take out the three marks and head back to the warehouse with the least trouble and noise.

Since it is a more formal place and they wanted to blend in, Chen insisted they dress up. So, they did. Loey chose an olive green suit with blue velvet applique and paired it with a black turtleneck under it. His pink hair is contrasting nicely with it. Yifan chose a bolder yet subdued option; he went with a black suit with a dragon embroidered on one side in gold threads. Kyoong really went with the boldest choice in his floral suit but the flowers stopped at the bottom half of his jacket and are all over his dress pants. Junmyeon played it safe with a turtleneck like Loey but he threw on a half and half suit jacket (one side was grey and the other black pinstripes). They make quite the handsome quartet and when they step inside, they make people stop and turn their heads.

Loey scoffs, “Maybe we’re attracting  _ too  _ much attention.”

Kyoong chuckles and hooks his arm with Loey’s, “Eh whatever! So, let’s begin the first phase anyway!”

Kyoong and Loey walk in, leaving Junmyeon alone with Yifan, which Junmyeon isn’t every excited about. He feels a light touch on his elbow and he flinches, not intentionally but he turns to look at Yifan and he sees the confusion in the other’s eyes and his stomach churns. He doesn’t know why he would flinch like that—Yifan and Suho’s relationship is not his concern, not his business and yet he is recoiling deep inside from Yifan’s touch, look,  _ anything _ .

Yifan is taken aback and baffled by Junmyeon’s reaction. Junmyeon, on the other hand, tries to cover it up by smiling tightly, like it pained him to even do that, “So, uh, where do we go?” 

Yifan shakes it off; he has a mission to complete. He finds Kyoong, already on the lap of their first mark. He finds Loey already watching their second mark like a hawk, ready to strike at the first of vulnerability. Yifan nods, “We’re ready. Let’s go to the room number we were given.”

Junmyeon follows as Yifan takes the lead, walking towards the elevators. He looks at Kyoong once, watching how he easily charms his way and has his head thrown back, laughing at something the mark said. He knows Kyoong will kill him with a sharp and focused laser he creates via his foldable rapier. He also notes how Loey moves from his position, moving towards the mark who is headed towards the bathrooms. He isn’t sure what Loey would do but he has been told that Loey’s can get hot enough to melt metal, so he can imagine. 

(Kyoong’s weapon isn’t exactly a rapier but a pen modified to help him magnify his power into a sharp laser which he can use to stab into people with the least effort. Xiumin made it for him and he rather likes it. When the mark leaned forward to kiss his neck and as his skin crawled at that, he swiftly took it out from the inside of his jacket and aimed it right over the mark’s heart. The mark slumped forward and he did some acting, pretending to be surprised. Someone rushed over to check the man’s pulse but Kyoong had already melted into the crowd.

Loey isn’t as inconspicuous like Kyoong, so there is some struggle involved in the bathroom. The basin gets a chip in its smooth enamel surface, the mirror gets cracked, so does Loey’s nose. But Loey finally managed to grab the man’s head in his hands and then he watches with a smirk as the man struggles, as he increases the heat. When there is only flesh and blood boiling around a skull, Loey drops the body. He glances at his reflection and he supposes it is a thing to be scared of. Veins of fire make rivers on his face and fire engulfs him whole. Thank goodness Xiumin made all his clothes fireproof.)

The room number they got is like a VIP lounge. The plan is simple; since this mark would have bodyguards, it was decided that two people would take the mark down. Junmyeon steps in first, followed by Yifan. They pretend to be lost and to put in more effort in the acting, Yifan grabs Junmyeon’s waist and pretends like they were simply looking for a room for some privacy. Junmyeon pretends he doesn’t feel the heat from Yifan’s hands seep into his skin, bleeding through his clothes. 

When the bodyguards don’t look perturbed, Junmyeon gets to work. He uses enough blood manipulation to cut off pressure, to make them faint. The mark yelps in surprise but it is cut short when Yifan steps in and shoots him point-blank. The sound of the gunshot is muffled of course, but then, one of the bodyguards somehow staggers to their feet and clutching his gun weakly in his hand, shoots.

Junmyeon and Yifan don’t see it but then the sound of gunshot surprises them and Junmyeon yelps in pain, stumbling forward, falling on his knee. Yifan rushes towards him but then before the other man can even lift his hand again, he sends another bullet towards the man. The bullet embeds into the man’s forehead and he turns towards Junmyeon, who is clutching his calf and panting. The bullet had gone straight through and now blood pours out of his wound. 

Yifan kneels beside him and throws his arm around Junmyeon. His other hand reaches to cup Junmyeon’s face and he asks, “Are you okay? Can you heal yourself?”

Junmyeon chuckles, “I can stop the bleeding, I’d still need Lay.” He concentrates on making sure no blood spills from the wound any more. He removes his hands and he sighs at the blood, “I need something to clean myself up.”

Yifan looks around the room, desperately hoping he finds something. His gaze lands on the silk curtains and he asks, “Will curtains do?”

Junmyeon laughs, wincing next, “Yes, yes they will.”

Yifan gets his small dagger out and cuts strips from the curtain. They look very expensive but he doesn’t care right now. Junmyeon is hurt and this wasn’t in the plan and they still have phase two left. He returns to Junmyeon and together, they tie a tourniquet of sorts around Junmyeon’s right calf. 

Yifan then helps Junmyeon get to his feet. He loops an arm around Junmyeon’s shoulder and Junmyeon grasps at Yifan’s waist. Before they can move, Junmyeon says, waving his hands over the pool of his blood, “We can’t, I’ve my DNA in the system.” He uses his powers to evaporate the blood since he remembers participating in neighbourhood blood drive a few years ago.

Yifan has never seen Suho do this, so he gasps, “I didn’t know you could do this.”

Junmyeon is pressed this close to Yifan, he should probably enjoy it but all he can think again is about the darkened corridor two nights ago when he saw Yifan walk out of his brother’s room. He wants to push Yifan away but he can’t, he needs the other’s help to walk. Before he could say anything, Yifan cups his cheek and his brows furrow as he asks, “Are you okay?”

Junmyeon holds his breath because Yifan hasn’t touched him like this since that day in the kitchen when he traced his mole. Junmyeon leans into it, unconsciously, and murmurs, “I’m fine.” He glances around, “We should go before the other two bodyguards wake up.” Junmyeon moves his face away and looks towards the door, swallowing the lump of anger, disappointment and hurt in his throat. He wishes he was far away from Yifan but this is a price he keeps paying.

Yifan tightens his hold around Junmyeon’s shoulders and starts walking towards the door. He has noticed the discomfort on Junmyeon’s face but he wonders if it is just the pain or something else—the something else that has become a wall between them suddenly. 

Together, they hobble out of the door and into the corridor. They take the elevator next to the basement level, where Loey and Kyoong are already waiting for them. Kyoong spots Junmyeon limping and he rushes forward, concern etched on his face, “Hyung! What happened?”

Yifan quietly says, “He got shot.”

Loey raises an eyebrow, “Can we still go ahead? I mean, we would need help with the other guards down there.”

With pressure on Yifan’s arm, Junmyeon stands on his own and even though he grimaces with the pain, he says, “It’s okay. I can do it.” If he can’t, he doesn’t know how his brother will react. He knows Suho is waiting for him to fuck up, to slip and Junmyeon swears he would not, no matter what. Yifan gives him his elbow and Junmyeon takes it. He smiles at Kyoong, “Let’s go.”

Since Chen, D.O. and Xiumin had already checked out this place, they knew there were only three guards by the entrance to the locker. Leaning on Yifan for support, Junmyeon puts enough pressure on their blood vessels to stop the flow to their brain and make them faint. He whispers, “Move quickly, I can’t control their waking up.”

Loey and Kyoong slip in first and the former melts the door using his powers. They all walk into the room and even though it’s filled with money and boxes filled with contraband stuff, they are here for one specific clear box containing a drive. They all move around the room to look and it is Yifan who finds it. He is about to say that he had the thing they came for when a rough, raspy voice says, “Stop!”

Kyoong has his weapon out and before he can push it between the ribs of the man, the other had already pressed a button stitched on his shirt. The man slumps against Kyoong when the laser hits his heart and Kyoong gasps when he sees the red light blinking, “Shit! He called for reinforcements!”

Yifan curses under his breath and shakes his head, clearing it before he takes a moment and then speaks, “Judging by how far the security sits above us, I’d say we have five minutes. You and Loey leave first. I will follow with Junmyeon.” Kyoong looks unsure about the plan, glancing at Junmyeon’s injured leg and Yifan doesn’t miss this. He scowls, thrusting the case into Kyoong’s hands, making his voice deeper as he commands, “Go, Kyoong! This is an order!”

Loey curls his hand around Kyoong’s elbow and drags him out. Yifan looks at Junmyeon and smiles, “I think I need to carry you, otherwise you’ll slow me down.”

Junmyeon nods as he tries to ignore the untamed beat of his heart. Yifan kneels down slightly, putting his hands under Junmyeon’s knees and lifts him up. Junmyeon gasps a little when he feels like his body suddenly weighs nothing and in his surprise, he ends up throwing his arms around Yifan and pushing his face into Yifan’s neck. He mumbles, his voice trembling, “What the fuck?”

Yifan laughs, “Just something I do, I guess. I can manipulate the gravitational forces around others as well.”

The sensation of Yifan’s chest vibrating as he laughs is soothing and if the situation wasn’t so dire, Junmyeon would appreciate it. Therefore, he quietly says, a smile still tugging at his lips, “We should go now.”

Yifan nods and they head out. They see a few casualties of Loey and Kyoong’s doing on the way and the sight of charred flesh does make Junmyeon gag a little. Even though he has seen death, death by fire is not something he can stomach. Yifan hops over a fallen body, using his powers to help his speed and Junmyeon sinks further into Yifan’s hold. However, Yifan suddenly stumbles and Junmyeon raises his head to see a man standing behind them with a smoking gun. 

Junmyeon is in panic first and then he is sliding down Yifan’s arms and onto the floor. He lands on his injured leg, twisting it and he cries out in pain. Meanwhile, Yifan kneels on the floor, panting. Junmyeon forgets about his own predicament, his heart thrashes in his chest as he thinks the very worst as he crawls towards Yifan, shouting his name. Yifan looks up, grinning a little as he whispers, “Bulletproof vest, relax.” He pulls out his gun and he doesn’t even look back as he aims. Junmyeon sees the bullet whizz past the barrel and embeds in the man’s chest. 

Junmyeon laughs shakily and throws his arms around Yifan’s neck. He pulls back, cups Yifan’s face, his vision is blurred due to the tears of relief now streaming down his face. Yifan curls his fingers around Junmyeon’s wrists and smirks, “I’m fine.” He brushes Junmyeon’s bangs off his eyes and kisses one eyebrow, “I’m fine.”

Junmyeon inhales and his lungs hurt by how much he is feeling now. The kiss, the look in Yifan’s eyes. He is so confused but he is also relieved and he knows he can’t control the feeling now expanding within him, filling every nook and cranny in his body. He pushes himself up and presses his mouth against Yifan.

Yifan is surprised,  _ no _ , scratch that, he is so taken aback that he forgets how to respond. Junmyeon, Junmyeon is  _ kissing  _ him and he is just there, on his knees, his back aching from the bullet’s impact—he has become a statue. And god, Junmyeon’s lips are as soft as he had imagined them to be. He swallows his gasp and cupping Junmyeon’s neck, finally kisses him back.

Junmyeon thinks he made a mistake when Yifan doesn’t respond. But then, there is a warm hand on his neck and Yifan’s lip press back, moulding against his, stealing all his breath. Junmyeon clutches Yifan’s shirt and pulls himself closer and he feels Yifan’s other hand rest on his lower back, pushing into the divot to ensure there’s no extra space between their bodies. 

When they finally break for air, their heads buzz from their first kiss and they are both panting. Yifan is transfixed by Junmyeon’s kiss-bruised lips and Junmyeon can’t look away from the bare need in Yifan’s gaze. However, there are still a few things to consider and Junmyeon goes with the first, “We, we need to get out.” 

“Yes,” Yifan says even though he is still in a daze. He wants to kiss Junmyeon again, wants to keep kissing him forever. But then, he notices how Junmyeon’s eyes cloud over and he looks away. Yifan cups the side of his face and asks, “Junmyeon?”

The question is heavy, even though it’s nothing but his own name—Junmyeon can sense the intentions under it and it terrifies to lay naked his insecurities, so he shakes his head and says, “Later, we’ll talk later. Take us out of here first.”

Later doesn’t happen until the next night when Yixing leaves Junmyeon to rest in his room. Yifan hadn’t been able to visit or talk to Junmyeon, who couldn’t decide if he was fine with it or mildly pissed off about it. He knew from Kyoong and Xiumin that Yifan was busy since Suho had sent him to China to get paid for their assignment and some more things. Junmyeon, meanwhile, was struggling to accept that he was missing Yifan.

Then, on the second night, as he recuperates on the bed, he hears a knock and then Yifan is walking inside his room. Junmyeon is taken aback but he quickly collects himself and smiles, “Hey, there. Finally got the time to visit me, huh?”

Yifan smiles as he sits down on the foot of Junmyeon’s bed. “Well, yeah, I’m a busy man.”

Junmyeon smiles again but he looks down, tearing his gaze away from Yifan and his towel-dried hair fluffing over his eyebrows, making him look younger, softer, like someone Junmyeon could so easily surrender his whole self to. He clutches the edges of his blanket and twists them, trying to find the right words but Yifan beat him to it. 

“Junmyeon, I need to know why you kissed me.”

The bluntness in Yifan’s statement startles Junmyeon and his eyes widen as he tries to figure out an answer. He looks away again as he mumbles, “Because, because, I, I wanted to.” 

“Junmyeon?” There are larger, warmer hands now covering Junmyeon’s and when he looks up, he finds Yifan has shifted closer to him. “Why would you want to? Do you like me?”

Yifan is nervous and he hopes Junmyeon can’t tell because he has never felt like this before for anyone and it scares him. He laces his fingers through Junmyeon’s and swallows as he keeps talking, “I know why I kissed you. I like you, I like you a lot.”

Junmyeon gasps and he looks up. His heart is pounding so hard and fast, he is half afraid that it would burst through his chest. Yifan cups his face and his thumbs rub over Junmyeon’s cheekbones as he drops his voice to a whisper, “Say something, please.”

Junmyeon takes a deep, staggering breath and shuts his eyes. He finally says what has been bothering him, “But how do I know you’re not lying?” He opens his eyes and he sees the confusion in Yifan’s eyes. “I know, I know you, you and Suho,” he swallows, suddenly unable to say it but he supposes Yifan gets it because he drops his hands and hangs his head. Junmyeon tries to stifle a sob as he says, “I like you Yifan, too much maybe, but if you and my brother are involved, I don’t want anything.”

Yifan sighs as he drags his fingers through his hair. He quietly says, “We’re not involved. He has a certain preference for tall men.” Junmyeon frowns at this reply. Then, Yifan looks up and his eyes seem devoid of any emotion as he says, “It’s just Suho and his desires, not mine, or Loey’s, Xun’s, Kai’s or Tao’s.”

Junmyeon finally gets it and his stomach turns a little when he realises what his brother is doing. He frowns and claps a hand over his mouth, his eyes tearing up. He feels arms wrap around him and he presses his face into Yifan’s neck, his whole body trembling a little. He says, “I’m sorry, I—”

Yifan silences Junmyeon with his lips and murmurs, “I feel nothing for Suho, nothing at all. Maybe, I was attracted to his face when I first came here. But after the first time, and after I knew who he truly was, it was too late to back out. I don’t want another scar, I guess.” Yifan laughs but Junmyeon can see right through him. He must have been heartbroken.

Junmyeon cups Yifan’s face and whispers, “I’m not him.”

Yifan presses his forehead against Junmyeon’s and smiles, “I know that very well.”

Suho is unbuttoning Kai’s shirt when he notices the latter is miles away inside his head. He stops and sits up straighter in Kai’s lap, frowning, “Hey, where are you? You know I don’t like to be ignored.”

Kai shakes his head and says, “Nothing. I just saw something I am trying to understand.”

Suho cocks his head to the side as he splays his hand on Kai’s sternum. “Oh, what did you see?”

Then, Kai tells him how he saw Junmyeon and Kris locked in an embrace. Kai didn’t understand why Junmyeon and Kris would do that. But Suho does, and when he does, he smiles.  _ Oh brother dear, you’re really asking for it.  _

Suho really doesn’t like sharing after all. And shouldn’t Junmyeon know this by now?


End file.
